Line Layout – How to Use

The Purpose of Line Layout

To use “Line Layout,” you first need to be stationed (i.e. the tool needs to know the coordinates it is located at on your jobsite). Please make sure you station your tool before attempting to use “Line Layout.”

Line Layout lets you mark out lines, typically from your CAD file. You can also create lines manually in the app. It's especially useful for complex shapes like curves, arcs, circles, and wavy lines—not just straight ones.

Here is a good video to help guide you through the application:

Select the Application from the Menu

When you are ready to conduct point layout, find the application from the home screen or from the side menu in CAD view of your project.

Select or Create the Line you Want to Measure

Selecting a Line

When using Line Layout, you’ll usually reference a line from your CAD file. Just open the app, select the line you want, and go to the “Measure” tab on the right to begin working from that line.

Tap the line again to set a new start point (0,0). This affects how the app measures offsets along the line—it’s key to know where your start point is and which way the line is heading so that you read your measurements correctly.

Creating a Line

If the line you need isn’t in the CAD file yet, you can create it in the “Create” tab on the right menu. You can also use HCL’s draw tools to add permanent lines directly into the CAD file beforehand.

To make a temporary layout line, HCL offers three options:

1. Line from 2 Points: Pick two existing CAD points to form a straight line. (Make sure the points are created first).

   

2. Arc from 3 Points: Select any three points. If mathematically possible, the app draws a perfect circular arc passing through them.

   

3. Arc from 2 Points + Radius: Select two points and enter a radius. If mathematically possible, the app builds a perfect circular arc that matches those inputs.

When creating an arc using 2 points and a radius, you also need to pick which section of the circle the arc should follow.

Examples:

• “Right, big” = larger arc on the right side of the circle
• “Left, small” = smaller arc on the left side of the circle (see screen shot below) The app will calculate the correct arc based on your choices and draw it accurately on the CAD file

  

Point Order Matters (Quick Tip)

When creating a line, the first point you select becomes the start point (0,0) of your line or arc. The app uses this to measure and reference offsets and direction, so be sure you pick points in the correct order for accurate layout data.

Line Shift (Optional)

Before measuring, you can choose to shift the selected line’s position or rotation. This helps if the default alignment is tricky to follow on site.

To explain this, please see the screenshots below. The first screenshot shows the line without a shift. The icon with the red flag indicates the line’s beginning point.

In the second screenshot, you can see there is a shift of the start point 1m along the line, a 1m shift of the line to the right, and finally the line rotated 45°.

If Line Shift helps your layout, it’s easy to learn by watching how the shift affects the line on screen. Just experiment with a few settings to see how it works.

Begin Measuring From your Line

Once you have selected or created your line, you can now navigate to the “Measure” tab to begin your layout. In this tab you have a few options at your disposal:

1. Center View on Target: Keep this turned off if you intend to zoom and pan around your CAD file while working, keep this turned on if you would like to see the location of your laser or prism while working.

   

2. “Point to Line” Toggle: Keep this turned on if you intend to have the tool actively indicate your position relative to your line. The values will adjust as you move your prism or laser automatically. Keep this turned off if you intend to type in the exact offset location you would like the tool to guide you to in relation to your line.

   

3. Line/Offset/Height Values: These values will appear to tell you the location you are relative to your selected line. “Line” indicates how far you have moved on the line in relation to the start point (0,0) of your line. “Offset” indicates how far off (left or right) you are from your line. “Height” indicates how far above or below you are from your selected line.

   

4. Absolute Height Toggle: Turn this toggle on if your want your height values to be related to the benchmark height already pre-measured during the stationing process, also known as your “absolute height.” Turn this toggle off if you would rather have your height relative to the line itself, also known as “relative height.” For instance, if you have a sloped line that you are following, if you are following the slope exactly along the line, your relative height will not change, because you are not leaving the line. However, since you are moving along a slope, your absolute height will change with any change in height relative to the benchmark of your jobsite.
5. Height Values: In case you prefer to see both absolute and relative heights at once, you will see that view at the bottom of the measure tab. Remember, if you have heights turned of in the general settings, the height values will not appear here.